Glad to help. Over years of helping people polish this work, I've learned how to streamline and make sure there's value there for the writer, not just revenue for the editor!
I'm quite sure I need a developmental editor, but the woman that was recommended to me said she thought a manuscript evaluation (based on 3 chapters) was what was needed. When she got back to me, after scribbling through huge swathes of text and killing off some of my best lines, she had this to say: "You should change the focus of your memoir. The memoir I want to read is about your growing up on the prairies." I am not going to use her, as the very, very last thing I want to write is a memoir about my childhood on the prairies. The fact she wants me to write an entirely different book really killed any chance of her being my editor.
This happens often—some untrained or inexperienced editors lose sight of the fact that it isn’t their book or their writing and ego kind of gets in the way. Seems like you’re making the best choice! Thanks for reading!
This is useful Maryan re how, and exactly with what, the right kind of beta readers and editors can help us. When I saw this title in my inbox, my first thought in response to writers hiring the wrong editor is that we wrongly employ ourselves in the editing process at the wrong moment—at the beginning of writing. I've had to train myself to let it rip with producing shitty first drafts to get to the good stuff. Too much cogitation and strategy and trying to get things right from the beginning have blocked the flow many times and after many years I'm learning to let that first draft come forward without my own inner editor in the room. I am definitely the wrong editor that I have "hired" in the past, in the wrong moment.
Totally agree with you about editing too soon. My husband edits himself word-by-word as he writes, so it takes him forever to get down what he really wants to say. I never edit until I'm sure the ideas are all out and I've said my piece. Then I can polish it, trim it, and make it pretty. Thanks for pointing that out!
This is so helpful! Thx, Maryan. 🌸
Glad to help. Over years of helping people polish this work, I've learned how to streamline and make sure there's value there for the writer, not just revenue for the editor!
I'm quite sure I need a developmental editor, but the woman that was recommended to me said she thought a manuscript evaluation (based on 3 chapters) was what was needed. When she got back to me, after scribbling through huge swathes of text and killing off some of my best lines, she had this to say: "You should change the focus of your memoir. The memoir I want to read is about your growing up on the prairies." I am not going to use her, as the very, very last thing I want to write is a memoir about my childhood on the prairies. The fact she wants me to write an entirely different book really killed any chance of her being my editor.
This happens often—some untrained or inexperienced editors lose sight of the fact that it isn’t their book or their writing and ego kind of gets in the way. Seems like you’re making the best choice! Thanks for reading!
Great information to have with a manuscript in progress!
This is useful Maryan re how, and exactly with what, the right kind of beta readers and editors can help us. When I saw this title in my inbox, my first thought in response to writers hiring the wrong editor is that we wrongly employ ourselves in the editing process at the wrong moment—at the beginning of writing. I've had to train myself to let it rip with producing shitty first drafts to get to the good stuff. Too much cogitation and strategy and trying to get things right from the beginning have blocked the flow many times and after many years I'm learning to let that first draft come forward without my own inner editor in the room. I am definitely the wrong editor that I have "hired" in the past, in the wrong moment.
Totally agree with you about editing too soon. My husband edits himself word-by-word as he writes, so it takes him forever to get down what he really wants to say. I never edit until I'm sure the ideas are all out and I've said my piece. Then I can polish it, trim it, and make it pretty. Thanks for pointing that out!